10 sheets of felt and a bag of tiny clothespins later...
Christmas gifts: felt mitten garland, kids craft ideas
I was actually prepared for the possibility that this particular Christmas project would be a bust. Every Christmas season I wander the aisles at Michael's with ideas from 14 different Christmas magazines in hopes of finding fun things for the kids to do. And somehow usually my ideas never make it out of the craft bin, or they wind up completely lost on the kids altogether. This one was a winner in every category: Cheap. Fun. Easy-enough-for-a-three-year-old. Entertaining-enough-to-hold-their-interest. Pretty-enough-to-hang-up. The key ingredient, it turned out, was the Time To Do It. I am so glad I took time off this season to hang with the kids...
It was (fittingly) a snow day on Sunday. Daddy was on Guard duty out of town. The kids were bored (and I'd already played outside for my quota of 30 minutes in the cold).
And the activity lasted long enough for Daddy to join in when he got home:
Materials:
- 5-10 sheets of colorful felt from the craft store
- Mitten Template (from Martha Stewart)
- Scissors & Fabric glue (or school glue - you'll need to use a bit more of it than usual)
- Mini-clothespins (I found mine in the wooden shapes aisle at Michaels)
- Optional: fabric markers, bits of ribbon, self-adhesive felt shapes
How to:
- Cut the mitten shape from cardstock and use as a template for the felt mittens. Trace and cut from felt.
- Embellish the mittens and let dry.
- Hang with clothespins to a long stretch of ribbon - or for more permanent use (year after year) - sew the mittens to the ribbon.
- You could just as easily do this with scrapbook paper or cardstock. and staple to a length of twine or ribbon.